Yogiraj, man who sculpted Kedarnath Shankara, to make Netaji statue in Delhi

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The design of the statue has been prepared by a team from the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) under the Ministry of Culture, headed by its Director-General Adwaita Gadanayak.

Last month, Yogiraj had met Modi and presented him with a two-feet statue of Bose. The PM had tweeted about the meeting, and thanked Yogiraj for “sharing his exceptional sculpture of Netaji Bose”.

Officials in the ministry said Yogiraj will work in collaboration with the NGMA team and will work specifically on the facial features of the statue since he specialises in creating portrait sculptures. He lands in the Capital on June 1, and the work on the Bose statue is slated to be completed before the August 15 deadline.

Apart from the Shankaracharya statue, Yogiraj made the 14.5-feet white marble sculpture of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar in Mysuru, and the life-size white marble sculpture of Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

Son of noted sculptor Yogiraj Shilpi, the 37-year-old comes from a family of Mysuru palace artists. An MBA, he worked with a private firm for a few years before taking up sculpting full time in 2008.

Before creating the final stone sculpture of Shankaracharya for Kedarnath, Yogiraj had created a two-feet model for approval by concerned authorities, including the PMO.

The announcement regarding the Bose statue had been made by the PM in January

this year. Gadanayak, under whose supervision the NGMA team prepared a graphic model of the statue, said that after months of research, they shortlisted a stone block from Telangana and Odisha each, before settling on the one from Telangana.

Gadanayak said the choice of the strong black granite was meant to be reflective of Bose’s “very strong character”. “Besides, the energy of black colour is often associated with deities like Lord Jagannath and Lord Krishna.”

He said a team of 20-25 sculptors will assist them on the project.

The sandstone canopy where Bose’s statue will be installed was built in 1936, and housed the statue of King George V until 1968.